As the last of the fake tan and body glitter is washed down Sydney's sewers, there was no shortage of energy and stamina at any of the parties PS attended over the 36 hours on assignment to cover the ringing in of 2014.

A variety of social fauna came out to frolic, from musclemen and underworld figures to leggy models and attention-seeking socialites.

Glenn Chaplin and Brad Ngata at Catalina. Photo: Andrew Hornery

EXCLUSION ZONE

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For all the complaints and derision which has been levelled at the ABC's coverage of the New Year's Eve fireworks anchored at the lord mayor's party at the Opera House, it was a very different mood for those of us who managed to score an invitation to the event.

Indeed, most of the guests would have been oblivious to the ABC's activities, the on-air talent tucked away in the corner of the party in their own ''pen'', far from the dance floor and stage where singing and dancing sensation Iota put on a spectacular live show which soon had the dance floor packed.

Phoebe Tonkin at Bondi Icebergs. Photo: Supplied

Down in the swish Bennelong apartments, a multitude of private celebrations were taking place, the well-heeled sipping champagne high above the madding crowds packing the foreshore.

Of particular concern to PS was the social segregation which appears to have become a fixture of New Year's Eve in Sydney.

Organisers call it crowd control, with kilometres of wire fencing barricading people into specific zones around the harbour. But why do the organisers cover the fencing with sheeting which effectively blocks out the all-important harbour views and key icons such as the Harbour Bridge and Opera House for the regular punters?

Seen at Bondi's Icebergs party: Actor Adrien Brody.

Tourists and families were crammed in cheek by jowl, clearly not in a position to shell out the sort of dough (thousands of dollars in some cases) to buy a ticket to one of the VIP areas along the foreshore, where a handful of silvertails sat at elegant dining tables with room to dance about and watch the spectacle unhindered by the barricades or the great unwashed. It seemed terribly ''unAustralian''.

TEPID TICKETS

When it came to NYE parties, it seems Sydneysiders are not adverse to shelling out a small fortune to see in the new year, the more exclusive the event apparently the more we are willing to pay for it.

But, seriously, what possessed the fabulous nobodies to spend $800 each to gain entry into the Star casino's mega club Marquee to breathe the same rarefied air as reality TV winners Dami Im and American DJ Ray J, better known as the chap who co-starred with Kim Kardashian in her much-viewed sex tape a few years back.

PARTIES THAT ROCKED

Money was no object for the billionaires who converged on Sydney Harbour for NYE, the most exotic of which would have to be Russian oligarch David Traktovenko, who made headlines back in 2011 when he bought Sydney FC soccer club. Traktovenko's daughter Arlina Barlow lives in Sydney, married to Scott Barlow, chairman of Sydney FC.

Also bobbing about on the harbour was media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who was aboard son Lachlan's new $30 million luxury tinnie Sarissa.

And while the Murdochs moored their huge boat in the harbour, there were more than a few miffed punters around the foreshore near the Park Hyatt Hotel when another huge, multi-decked beast of a boat set anchor, blocking out the view for a few hundred people so the dozen or so revellers on board could enjoy themselves.

CELEBS IN HIDING

While there were plenty of B-, C- and even a few D-list celebrities basking in the limelight, most of the major stars in Sydney for New Year's Eve were keeping a low profile, especially Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban, who are understood to have enjoyed a quiet NYE on their Sydney balcony overlooking the harbour. The family flew out on Thursday bound, for Los Angeles, after a two-week break in Sydney.

SOAP STAR ROYAL

Giving Sydney's NYE celebrations a slightly regal air was the arrival of Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark, who quickly uploaded shots of her spectacular harbour views from her abode in Bellevue Hill.

Few boast much bluer blood. The 30-year-old blonde's paternal grandparents were King Paul of Greece and Frederika of Hanover, and her maternal grandparents Frederick IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden. Her godparents are the former Crown Prince of Yugoslavia, the former King of Romania, Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen of Denmark.

But Princess Theodora is no stranger to Australia, having spent her ''gap year'' at St Philip's College in Alice Springs.

While she considers Princes William and Harry to be like brothers, these days she is living in the United States, where she has moved into the world of television soap operas, scoring a recurring role in The Bold and the Beautiful, playing secretary Alison Montgomery.

THE SHORT AND TALL FLOOR 'EM

The party set were out in force on New Year's Day. Key destinations included Ivy's rooftop pool bar, Rose Bay's Catalina, the Watsons Bay Hotel and the traditional pleasure pen of Bondi: the Icebergs.

And what a scene it was. The parties at all three locations boasted a truckload of models, less attractive rich folk, celebrities and more than a few jittery, dodgy-looking types.

Inside the usually refined Catalina restaurant in Rose Bay, impresario Daimon Downey packed the venue with 450 socialites and installed a dance floor and DJ - his second New Year's Day event which has made a serious dent on the social landscape.

PS almost stumbled over Fadi Ibrahim inside Catalina. The younger brother of John Ibrahim. was shot five times in his Lamborghini in 2009.

After arriving in a white Lamborghini, the diminutive Ibrahim appeared to have recovered from the shootings and was tentatively making a show on the dance floor, on which statuesque beauty Erika Heynatz and her equally tall husband, Andrew Kingston, were enjoying the lofty heights.

Watching Ibrahim bust a move in Heynatz's shadow was almost like watching Dorothy dancing with the munchkins of Oz - though it has to be said, Ibrahim had better hair.

Fashion designer Jonathan Ward looked as if he had broken out his bedazzler again, covering his sunglasses with so many rhinestones he had to be led around the dance floor by make-up mogulette Shelley Barrett as they worked through the crowd juggling cocktails served in huge coconuts while trying to take endless ''selfies'' on their smartphones.

Meanwhile, John Ibrahim was over at Bondi, at the Icebergs party. Also present was Hollywood actor Adrien Brody, who was uncharacteristically camera shy, refusing to pose for photos.

Victoria's Secret model Erin Heatherton was looking suitably beautiful, while Phoebe Tonkin was anything but one of the ghoulish characters she appears with on The Vampire Diaries, the pretty actor home for the holidays.